Megliola: Celtics look different, definitely not better

For Celtics diehards, Thursday’s draft night was a stress test of the heart and the mind’s ability to assimilate minute-by-minute information. It was borderline unhealthy. Was there a Doc in the house? Nope, he had left the day before. And the Boston Celtics this morning are … what?

By Lenny Megliola/Special to the News

Milford Daily News

By Lenny Megliola/Special to the News

Posted Jun. 29, 2013 at 12:01 AM
Updated Jun 29, 2013 at 4:25 AM

By Lenny Megliola/Special to the News

Posted Jun. 29, 2013 at 12:01 AM
Updated Jun 29, 2013 at 4:25 AM

» Social News

For Celtics diehards, Thursday’s draft night was a stress test of the heart and the mind’s ability to assimilate minute-by-minute information. Players were definitely and allegedly coming to Boston and leaving Boston faster than the heartbeat’s speed limit.

It was borderline unhealthy. Was there a Doc in the house? Nope, he had left the day before.

And the Boston Celtics this morning are … what?

For starters, they’re definitely Rajon Rondo’s team. That’s if Danny Ainge - the man can always get work as a house cleaner - doesn’t trade his mercurial point guard too. The Big Three that brought the Celtics their long-awaited 17th championship banner in 2008 are less about the North End and more about South Beach and the banks of the East River now.

This day had to come. Ray Allen took the first leap of faith and got another ring out of it. Kevin Garnett was left to ponder his future with two years left on his contract. Garnett had choices. Paul Pierce had none. The Celtics just weren’t going to bring him back for $15.3 million. Now they’re Nets. That even sounds weird.

Things got so crazy that when the Celtics got a guy named Iverson you thought, ‘Oh no, not….’ Not to worry. It was Colton Iverson who, reportedly, likes to practice.

It’ll be interesting to learn, when we next hear from Garnett, if he would have agreed to the deal if Pierce wasn’t going with him. The two have been pals for 20 years.

The Celtics might finish in fourth place in the Atlantic Division next season. They’re guaranteed to finish fourth in causing a buzz among the four teams we care about. You’ll be able to walk up to the Garden box office and buy good seats for that night’s Celtics game. Rebuilding the Celtics when good things came to an end has always been a tortuous process. How patient will the fans be? It’s never been a basketball town at its core, even with the Celtics’ unmatched success.

We have no idea if Ainge is through dealing, no idea what the roster will look like when camp opens. Sure, extract Garnett and Pierce and the Celtics were bound to get younger. Jared Sullinger, Jeff Green and Avery Bradley need to take giant steps now. First-round pick Kelly Olynyk, a seven-footer with three-foot hair, has a chance to get minutes.

Add this to the madness. The Celtics got a player, Kris Humphries, who fans will boo because 1) he got into it with Rondo and 2) because he had a 15-minute bogus marriage to Kim Kardashian. Humphries just isn’t good at scoring.

However, it’ll be nothing but applause and tears when the Nets come to the Garden for the first time. The love extended to Pierce and Garnett will blow the roof off. Their departures weren’t like Ray Allen’s or Johnny Damon’s. They’ll come back as heroes. For Pierce, who just missed being a career Celtic, the standing 'O' will be epic.

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In a week when Aaron Hernandez, the gutsy Bruins and the first-place Red Sox gave us all the emotion we needed and taxed our ability to absorb, the Celtics found a way to jump into the news cycle. It was a blaze of a week in Boston sports that will never be forgotten.